Metal lumber



Aprifi 15, EQSE,

w. o. SHELDON 3397376 METAL LUMBER Original Filed April 17, 1929 I 7 wag/M 5' gwuento'o WILLIAM OQGHELDON;

du o'zmq Patented Apr. 16, 1935 METAL LUMBER: William O. Sheldon, Lakewood, Ohio Original application April 17, 1929, Serial No. 355,934., Divided and this application 20, 1930, Serial No.4 76,520

August 3 Claims. i {01..189-3'7) 'My invention relates to metal lumber, the present application being a division of "my pending application Serial No. 355,934, filed April 17, 1929,

and to such product as may well be used for metal s-studding, purli'ns, stringers, joists,'beams, etc.,

all of which may be formed of light gauge material, and may be of steel, iron, or other metal plates to be formed in the desired outline by any suitableoperations.

My invention contemplates the formation of the finished product by stamping or bending a metal plate-into a long angular product, two of which will be secured together to form a hollow beam or similar substitute for lumber of the usual type; and has for its object to provide a metal lumber element of great strength and rigidity, and yet permitting light gauge material in its construcmay be readily secured together by seaming, welding or both, resultingin a member, usually of tion.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a an elongated hollow metal element formed of duplicate angularmembers, each of which is provided with a strengthening fold or seam at the vertex of the angle and'may be formed by one continuous operation such as by guiding a flat sheet metal plate through a series of bending operations. I 1

As a still further object I intend to direct each metal sheet through successive operations which shall be separately performed, butv by a single:

1 run through the machine. t

A further object "of my invention is the provision of hollow members formed of duplicate ele-' ments that are securedtogether by seaming, weld-.

ing'or both; and also for providing certain walls thereof with small holes to accommodate wires to be secured to the elementiby either following the wall by guiding back and forth through the openings, or passing through the wall permanent- 1y to the other side of the element.- 7

Other objects of my invention will be hereinafter described and for the purpose, reference is here made to the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawing, in which,- 7 J Figure 1 is an edge View of the end of-a metal plate after the first step of bending operations has been performed;

Figure 2 is a similar view of a further bending operation at each side of j the plate;

Figure3 is a similar View showing the result of the formation of spaced beads in the offset edge of the plate;v ,7

Figure 4 is asim'ilar view showing an upwardly bent edge of the beaded portion; 5

showing the effect Figure 5 shows the upwardly bent offset portion; r

Figure 6 shows the offsetportion further bent upwardly to indicate an intermediate portion bent upon itself, and v Figure 7 is aperspective view of a purlin formed of two elements, both similar to that shown in Fig. 6, joined together at their edges, by a final bending orseaming 'of the edges. The product of my invention is a metal lumber in the sense that I make hollow members of metal sheets, such members designed to serve as beams, joists, purlins, etc., as a substitute for lumber more usually of wood.

It is a special purpose of my invention to build 15 general'rectangular cross outline, capable of'supporting great weight as beams and similar elements, though formed of iron, steel or other metal plates which will not be ordinarily subject to decay as are woodenmembers of the same outline and size. 25

Since I shall form my metal beams of a plurality of duplicate plates, I shape each plate of continuous length which is passed through a forming machine which may bea rolling machine designed to perform a series of steps or operations successively, whereby the fiat sheet metal may enter such machine at one end in smooth condition, and-leave from the opposite end in complete condition for; being secured with another seamed-plate of identical outline to result 3," inthe finished beam, The proposed operations will now be explained. 1

The first five views of the drawing shows the metal sheet in edge view representing the successive bendsor seams longitudinal of the sheet, 40 formed in the various stages of passage throughthe machine. As the sheet enters the machine, which is assumed to be a rolling machine, the two concave troughs 5 are first provided in the sheet 6, and the side portion 1 isbent from the main portion by the oblique offset 8. This is the initial operation as the sheet enters the machine.

A flange isprovided upon the metal sheet by bending the edge 9 of the material at right angles thereto, and the portion 8 at the angle of the sheet is bent at right angles thereto, while the edge ll of the portion 1 is bent at right angles 1 to the latter, as shown in Fig. 5, and in the, final produce the very strong flanges l4 of integral material.

When it is desired to guide wiring through apertures of certain walls of the beam, the openings l5 may be formed in the bead l2, either before or after assemblage with another member of the beam. Sometimes it may be desirable to.

form such openings in the bead l2 in the form of the sheet as shown in Figs. 3 or 4 Qther openings for the same purpose may bemade in he c the hea 5 in. th same. manner.v main function of these beads 5 and I2, together th he ofis ts ill. is the stren thenin of th beam which bviousl esults from s ch ormation. a

Duplicate m mb rs. of the. form shown in Fig. 6 are new assembled at opposite edges to form the beam shown in Fig. 7-. In assembling these members, the plates. 5 of thertwo duplicatemembers Will be arranged in parallelism, and the composite sheets 1, will also be parallel, the strength.- ening folds I4 of the two members being diagonally opposite in the completed beam. The down-turned edge 8 of .each duplicate member will remain in the position shown in Fig. 6, but the edge ll of each member will be bent down over the edge 9 of the other member to provide an interlocking seam at the overlapped edges as will be seen in Fig. '7. The right hand upper corner of the hollowbeam, as well as the left hand lower corner, as shown in Fig. 7, represents the corners of the cross section view of the final product.

The openings l5 may be formed in the beads I2 or 5 in pairs, as shown in Fig. 6, so that, when it is desired, wires or metal straps may be passed through a pair of such openings and usedfor the purpose of attaching the hollow metal-beam to the other elements, such as lathing, plaster board, or beaver board. The arrangement in pairs will make such arrangement very feasible.

The provision of the beads H) in the operation whose result appears in Fig. 3, provides definitely-' spaced shoulders l6 which, in the final beam shown in Fig; '7, will serve as positive stops to oppose any tendency of the walls 6 to collapse. The first view of such function is shown in Fig. 6 where the shoulder I 6 appears as resting upon the plate 6 after the fold M has been formed, and

completes the interlocking connection between the bent edge or flange 9, between said shoulder and the over-lapped edge"! I. The other shoulder of this plate 1 adjacent the portion lbserves to oppose inward movement of the wall 6 at the point where the edge strip 9 is bent out. These two beads it! extend into the cavity between the side walls 5, and at the sametime make possible the formation of the bead lz withoutforming undesirable external portions outside the common level of the plates I.

The folds M are integral overlapped;- portions of material having surface contact throughout their outline and positioned at theangle of each of the two members, and serve as very strong ex ternal projecting seams further strengthened by Y the fold I4, as first shown in Fig. 6.

the shoulders I 6. The opposite edge of the plate 7 is bent over as theedge I I, to form a corresponding fold; but instead of extending at an angle away from the plate integrally merely bends around the bent edge 9 of the plate 6 of the complementalmember to form a threeply interlocking fold at the junction of the two duplicate metal members. The finished beam therefore, comprises two of the folds I4 diagonally positioned, and two diagonal, three-ply folds H for securing the members together. It is readily feasible to weld the members at these three-ply folds, though the interlocking connection affordedatthese folds serves to provide strong attachment without welding.

As shown clearly in Fig. '7 of the drawing, the before mentioned externally projecting folds or seams l4 appear in the finished product in pairs. The diagonally positioned integral seams M being in parallel planes, and the three-ply folds hereb the two. du licate members. a e secure ether. bein n a comm n pla e hthe tesral seams. resp e y. thes fiat f lds s r e ell to extendhe a ea of the lat suppo t of the ntir earn' t ts a e, and ls b ve to ive rens pres ur n t. Th e lds I 4 are therefore substantially flat and are always rm d of mat ria pr s e p n i s lf h u h the integral folds require no additional securing means If the product r ted in-the o m r pag s o this p ci ca on s P duced by s ng a sh et throu h a. rolling mach n ,x he views show in Fi s. 1 t 6 of. thedra ing wi indicate a su stive order of. pe a ion emphasiz the hareter of thefinal ro uct. two o h ch e e be secured to e her to result n h d ed hollow beam. 7

The flattened c n guous p at s fer-mine h str n thening fold 4. by ben in he mat r al upon itself at. la.rende s. especial y desira le the shoulder 16 whi h is fset r m th meinsh as shown in Fi 3. at just the pr per d tanc m t e p int Hi. to positi n such houlde in direct engagement with the angle re ultin from the first bend above referred toin shaping the side portion I relative to the main sheet 6. This positive strengthening of the completedbeam at the corner thereof by the formation of this shoulder I 6 adjacent the integral sheet fold I 4 has a value that can hardly be over estimated. One

of such folds isshownin Fig. 6. and two,v of them makes obvious the necessity of the offset which results in the connecting strip 8, so that the upturning operation of the complete plate'whi'ch I designate by the numeral 1, thereby results in The resulting product will therefore be seen to comprise a very strong element though formed of light gaugematerial, and is especially rigidthoug-h hollow. Further, myproduct is made from metal sheets resulting in exact duplicates-which may obviouslybe formed as a single continuous length and severed, and therefore capable of production at great speed.

While the finished beam shown in Fig. '7 of the drawing shows the beads 5 and I2 as substantially similar, it is evident that beads of different outline may be provided without varying the advantages gained in the final product. Also, other beads may be provided in the various walls of the beam resulting from securing the two elements together, that the arrangement of the slots in portions of such walls may be varied, and thatother changes may be made in the details of my terial at the angle of the portions of the L, and

further bent inwardly at the vertex of such angle to form an offset strengthening shoulder for contacting the other portion.

2. A hollow metal beam, comprising a pair of like sheet metal sections, each section being bent lengthwise to provide a broad wall and a narrow wall at rightangles thereto, the narrow wall having outwardly offset seats near opposite ends and the integral edge portion of the broad wall being bent into face engagement with the adjacent seat to close the same and provide a reinforcing fold of double thickness at the angle between the walls, the free edges of the broad wall being bent at right angles to provide a seating flange to engage the open oflset seat in the short wall of the opposite section, and the free edge portion of the short wall beyond said open seat being overturned upon the seatingflange of the broad wall of the opposite section for locking the sections together.

3. A hollow metal beam, comprising a pair of a like sheet metal sections, each section being bent lengthwise at rightangles to provide angularly disposed walls, one wall having outwardly offset seatsne'ar its opposite edges providing spaced outwardly facing shoulders and the integral end of, the other wall being bent into face contact with the adjacent seat of the first wall to provide a strengthening fold of double thickness at the angle between the walls and with the second wall braced against the adjacent shoulder of the first wall, the free end of the second wall having a laterally extending flange engaging in the other seat of the first wall ofthe opposite section and with the second wall engaging the adjacent shoulder thereof, the free edge of the first wall being overturned against the. flange of the opposite second wall to interlock the flange in the seat and hold the sections together.

WILLIAM O. SHELDON. 

